Yemen talks a priority, UAE, Saudi leaders say at Mecca meeting

The
UAE and Saudi Arabia on Monday called on pro-government Yemeni parties to hold
talks to resolve recent tension in Aden after days of clashes.

In
Mecca, Saudi King Salman and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu
Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, discussed the situation
in Yemen.

The
pair reaffirmed their call for the parties to "prioritize dialogue and
reason in the interest of Yemen and its people".

Sheikh
Mohamed said the two countries would "confront any and all powers that
threaten the safety and security of the region", the state news agency Wam
reported.

He
landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday and was welcomed in Jeddah by deputy defense
minister Prince Khalid bin Salman before travelling to Mecca to meet King
Salman.

Sheikh
Mohamed later held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was
also present at the meeting with King Salman, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

The
visit came amid calm in Aden after days of clashes between forces loyal to the
internationally recognized government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and
those affiliated with the secessionist Southern Transitional Council.

Both
forces have been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels with training and
support from an Arab military coalition in which Saudi Arabia and the UAE are
leading members.

STC
leader Gen Aidarous Al Zubaidi said late on Sunday that he was committed to a
ceasefire in Aden and taking part in Saudi-brokered peace talks with the
government.

The
government affirmed “its commitment to respect the call of the Saudi-led
coalition to a ceasefire”.

The
International Committee for the Red Cross said clinics had reported scores of
dead and hundreds wounded in the fighting that broke out last Wednesday.

Residents
said that Aden's water and power supply that had been disrupted during the
clashes were restored on Monday.

The
southern port city serves as the temporary base of the government after the
Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

The
rebels have been have been driven out of Yemen's south but continue to hold
much of the north and areas along the west coast including in the key port city
of Hodeidah.

The
Houthis have increased missile and drone attacks across the Yemen's northern
border with Saudi Arabia in recent months, with the coalition reporting that it
intercepted another drone launched towards the kingdom from Sanaa on Monday.

Coalition
spokesman Col Turki Al Malki said the attempt by the Iranian-backed rebels had
been stopped and that the international forces would continue to use deterrent
measures against the “terrorist militia to neutralize and destroy these
capabilities".

In
May, two pumping stations on the Saudi East-West oil pipeline were damaged by
drones.

On
June 12, the Houthis fired Iranian-made Ya Ali cruise missiles at the southern
Saudi airport of Abha wounding 26 civilians. The airport was hit a second time
on June 23 and again on June 25.

The
fighting in Aden complicates UN efforts to implement a stalled peace deal in
Hodeidah, the main entry point for most of Yemen's aid and food imports.

The
ceasefire, reached at UN-brokered talks in Sweden last December, are seen as a
precursor to further talks planned for this year as part of a political
solution to the war.